🇬🇧 4-Night London Itinerary

Since ChatGPT seems to be all the rage for identifying itineraries for travel, I thought this would be a fun experiment. Below is the itinerary and I will update based on what we actually did!

A Winter City Escape After the Queen Mary 2 Crossing
📍 Staying at The Londoner, Leicester Square

🚉 Day 1: Arrival & Your First Chapter in London

Midday:

• Arrive by train from Southampton. Transfer to The Londoner, Leicester Square.

• Light lunch or tea at The Stage (in your hotel).

Afternoon:

• Walk through Covent Garden — a setting from Dickens and the heart of old London theatre.

• Browse Hatchards Bookshop (est. 1797, booksellers to the royal family).

• Optional: Pop into The National Portrait Gallery — literary portraits abound. Walk Leicester Square, Covent Garden, and Piccadilly. Browse shops like Liberty London.

Evening:

• Dinner:

  • Mildreds (Soho) or Dishoom (evokes the old Irani cafés of Bombay) or Rasa Sayang (Singaporean, pescatarian options)

• Optional: See a classic play at the Noël Coward Theatre or The Globe’s winter indoor season. West End show

🏰 Day 2: Westminster, Dickens & Afternoon Tea

Morning:

• Hotel breakfast

• Visit Westminster Abbey — be sure to walk through Poets’ Corner (graves/memorials of Chaucer, Austen, Shakespeare, etc.)

• Walk past Big Ben, Parliament, and along the Thames

Lunch:

• The Ivy Market Grill (literary crowd vibes + veggie-friendly)

Afternoon:

• Visit the Charles Dickens Museum (his preserved home + writer’s desk!)

• Afternoon Tea at Fortnum & Mason or The London Library (if you’re a member or join for the day), The Petersham, or back at The Londoner)

Evening:

• Dinner:

  • Bubala (vegetarian, Middle Eastern, Soho)

  • Barrafina (Spanish small plates, pescatarian)

  • NOPI for pescatarian-friendly elegance

• Optional: Literary pub walk or ghost tour around old London, Live jazz at Ronnie Scott’s

📖 Day 3: Book Markets, South Bank & Shakespeare

Morning:

• Hotel breakfast at The Londoner

• Stroll or take a quick cab to Southbank Book Market under Waterloo Bridge — browse vintage titles with the river as your backdrop

• Continue walking east along the South Bank toward Borough

Lunch:

• Tube to Borough Market — (sample: Horn OK Please, Applebee’s Fish, veggie soups, mulled wine, Warm drinks & dessert at Ginger Pig or Monmouth Coffee

• Optional: Thames Path walk or river boat west to Westminster

Afternoon:

• Walk the South Bank: Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe

• Tour Shakespeare’s Globe — and optionally book a ticket to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (an intimate, candlelit theatre experience)

• Warm up at Swan at the Globe or OXO Tower Brasserie

• Optional: visit the Tate or book a short Globe tour. Cozy café break at OXO Tower or Tate Modern café

Evening:

• Dinner:

  • NOPI (Ottolenghi’s flagship, veg + fish-rich menu)

  • Palomar (vibrant sharing plates, veggie & fish options)

  • Sketch (for a creative, artsy final dinner)

• Optional: Night jazz at Nightjar, Read at The Londoner’s library lounge, or stroll through lit-up Soho streets

📚 Day 4: Libraries, Legends & Final Feasts

Morning:

• Hotel breakfast

• Visit the British Library (don’t miss the Treasures Room: Shakespeare folios, Austen manuscripts, and more)

• Visit the Tower of London & walk across Tower Bridge

• Optional: quick walk to King’s Cross Station’s Platform 9¾

Lunch:

• The Wolseley (classic brasserie, veg & fish options)

• Granger & Co. (literary crowd staples)

• Or Flat Iron for comfort food (ask for veg specials)

Afternoon:

• Book shopping at Daunt Books or Hatchards

• Explore Notting Hill or Kensington Palace if time allows

• Visit Daunt Books in Marylebone — famed for its Edwardian oak galleries and travel-by-author layout

• Wander Regent’s Park or St James’s Park for a serene stroll

Evening (Farewell):

• Dinner:

  • Gauthier Soho (plant-based fine dining in a townhouse – reserve early)

  • Clos Maggiore (Covent Garden – candlelit, perfect for romantics)

  • The River Café (Michelin-starred riverside spot for pescatarians)

• Final toast: 8 at The Londoner or Dukes Bar (inspired Ian Fleming's Bond martinis)

✈️ Day 5: Departure

Morning:

• Hotel breakfast

• Last-minute visit to Waterstones Piccadilly — Europe’s largest bookstore

• Quick stroll through St James’s Park or nearby boutiques if time allows

• Depart for your airport or station with plenty of inspiration packed in your bags

Normally, I’d ask for a lot more garden and park walks, but this is January - in England. And while we will have spent 2 weeks back in Minnesota prior to this trip, we have been in Panama since August…so I think my cold tolerance will be a bit low. I hadn’t planned on packing thermals, but I may now!

I will come back to this post and let you know what we did and didn’t make it to and how ridiculous the transit paths were…